Hyde Park on Hudson is for people who think watching the King of England eating a hot dog represents the ultimate expression of humor. If your gramps gets elderwood imagining the glow of this positively mirth-ridden moment in time, then by all means, have him go to Hyde Park on Hudson and revel in the 75 minutes of foreplay and then indulge in the spastic delight of a royal with ball park food. Didn’t we see this in Naked Gun?
Bill Murray is FDR. Do I need to repeat that? Because it sounds … wrong. Well, Bill is “good time” FDR; the one who gets to play, not talk big to the American public. Who knows 
how Bill would portray this Prez if this film had anything to say? Here, FDR has started an affair with fifth cousin Daisy (Laura Linney), but this is only a distraction. The real story is about King Bertie (Samuel West) [read: GeorgeVI] and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) visiting FDR’s retreat at Hyde Park in the late 1930s to ask America for some help with those pesky Nazis. There isn’t much story here and the soundtrack was put together by somebody who has no read on human emotion. Still, there are subtle moments of humor. Based on actual events, this is the first time an English King or Queen had ever visited the United States and great deal more was riding on English amiability than on American flexibility.
Encouraged to play nice with the locals, the King, en route to the retreat, steps out of his limo to wave at a farmer, who is equally as nonplussed as my cat when asked to come inside. Sometimes I do absolutely love being American. I don’t give a rat’s ass about royals and probably never will.
The best scene in the film is a sequestered late night conversation in the library between King and President. Thanks to Colin Firth, we are well aware of King George’s stutter. FDR makes him feel at ease, first taking the approach of a kindly father, then reminding us all that both suffer from handicaps of a sort, but neither is defined by the handicap. In a sense, these men are very much alike.
The tragedy of Hyde Park is not that it’s a bad film, just a meaningless one. This movie featuring a four-term President and the King of England is airy, cutesy drivel. It is a culmination of well-researched star-struck fascination combined with the hard-hitting no-holds-barred style of Blue’s Clues. On the brink of WWII, let’s have the President spend the week on summer vacation. It doesn’t matter how much Bill Murray does or does not resemble the real FDR if all his moments are forgettable.
FDR, to considerable shock,
The women beside him did flock
For a man so elite
And no working feet
He sure got around the block
Rated R, 94 Minutes
D: Roger Michell
W: Richard Nelson
Genre: Nostalgia
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: People who actually voted for FDR
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who like it when the soundtrack matches what’s on screen
